La syirqiyata wala gharbiyata, that’s the Arabic text of the banner displayed above the Iranian Embassy gate in Jakarta in early 1982, for almost two months. Still, many people did not understand it, maybe because it was in Arabic, but also because it seemed like it had nothing to do with it. Political turmoil in Iran at that time.
“There is no [not] East, and there is no [nor] West”, that’s the literal meaning of the banner. With that banner, we can catch that Iran wants to negate (condemn) the centre of cultural power (ideology and knowledge), which is always formulated (symbolized) with East and West. The power of Eastern ideology and knowledge is represented by Arabs, with Mecca as the centre. In contrast, the power of Western ideology and knowledge is represented by America and Western Europe. For Iran, East and West are nothing more than political constructions that are politically processed and discursive, unstable, and often misleading.
Then where is Murtadha Mutahhari’s position here? He was one of the foremost Iranian thinkers. They tried to influence the world public with his brilliant thoughts on Islam and socio-politics. Like other Iranian thinkers such as Ali Shariati, he has published his thoughts in various forms and translated them into many foreign languages, including Indonesian. For example, in the works on Islam and Islam by Indonesian Muslim intellectuals, we find many references to Mutahhari.
The correlation between Mutahhari’s thoughts and the official voice of the Iranian state at that time was still a matter that needed further investigation. However, his assertion of the Qur’an and human as the most important sources from which history and order of life can be pretty constructed; And it’s sufficient to explain that he does not believe that the centre of ideological power and knowledge is based on geographical symbols, such as East and West.
The centre, for Mutahhari, is the Koran and humans as subjects who read and make changes in the context of the times, neither East nor West. On the other hand, East and West as centres of cultural power (ideology and knowledge) are constructive and discursive. This is where I caught the affinity between Motahhari and the official Iranian voice, as stated in the banner above. Mutahhari himself asserted that: “It is these individuals (who are assimilated into society) who created the history.”
The Quran and Humans: The Center for Change
Like most Muslims, Mutahhari believes that the Qur’an contains teachings that humans need in managing life and personal and collective (society) life. But what is more interesting for Mutahhari is that there are so many verses of the Koran that invite, call, and instruct people to think logically (tafakkur). Not only the verses that end with afala tatafakkarun, afala tatadabarun, and afala ta’qilun, or four verses in surah al-ghasyiyah that do explicitly call and ask to think.
One of the verses that caught Mutahhari’s attention was verse 72 of Surah al-Akhzab, which translates: “And indeed We have offered a message to the heavens, the earth and the mountains. They all refused to take up the mandate for fear of betraying him. Then the man carried the mandate. Verily, man is very unjust and ignorant.” A verse that inspired the famous Persian poet Hafizh ash-Shirazi to compose a verse: “The sky is not able to bear the burden of the mandate, The dwarf named I is madly gambling with it.”
Perhaps we catch that the verse in Surah al-Akhzab is just an ordinary message that does not challenge us to think further. However, according to Mutahhari, the verse explains a problem by using language that raises many questions and forces the human mind to think. A mandate is already burdensome because even the heavens, the earth, and the mountains cannot carry it, but why can humans who are not physically stronger undertake it?
The word yahmiluha (carrying it) in verse means that the mandate in question is something humans can carry out, but why are people who have it called tyrannical and stupid, even by using mubalaghah or hyperbole, which means very unjust and very stupid? The symbolism, multiple interpretations, and [as if] the paradox in verse confirms that the verse – and the many similar verses in the Qur’an – call for thought.
As difficult as they are, these invitations, calls, and orders to think are directly addressed to people who believe in them because they are the main mukhatab (audience) of the Koran. Therefore, humans have two tasks at once: carry the mandate, which according to Mutahhari means taklif (responsibility) and is not material; and think seriously about studying the verses of the Koran to find the appropriate meaning. Of course, it is not easy to carry these two tasks. Still, with the submission of these two tasks, humans are positioned very importantly in organizing and determining their own lives and making their history. Man is the master of his destiny.
Is it possible? Mutahhari said that humans are intelligent beings and perfect creations. Human is a creature whose self-creation and maintenance comes directly from himself. He has the freedom of choice, the ability to create, and the potential to assume responsibility. But, at the same time are also social creatures equipped with a human conscience.
The Qur’an, according to Mutahhari, is of the view that the human mind and conscience are free and independent in the face of societal imperatives, historical imperatives, and other imperatives. Because, in his view, the divine nature that overlies human reason and conscience can still live in all circumstances and conditions. Environment. The Qur’an recognizes the authenticity of man and the conscience of humanity; therefore, it is not subject to historical imperatives and societal imperatives, although it is recognized that these imperatives are often influential factors.
Relativity and Diversity
Mutahhari’s perspective ensures that human beings, along with their human reason and conscience, become the centre from which the history of civilization was built and developed dynamically. All developments and changes stem from human beings and the conscience of humanity. Likewise, the value of conformity and deviation is measured by how far the change (reality) is meaningful (beneficial) for humans and humanity.
On the other hand, with that perspective, Mutahhari believes that not all verses of the Koran, religious teachings and values contain absolute, single, permanent, and unchanging characteristics, let alone ideology, scientific concepts, culture, and important events such as religious rituals.
Mutahhari believes that some of the verses are dhonni, multi-interpreted, and constantly changing in meaning. Likewise, some religious teachings, religious values and behaviour which are based on the interpretation of the verses of the Qur’an and the development of ethnographic (culture) and specific ecological environments, to borrow Mutahhari’s term, are relative.
In one of his papers, Mutahhari proposes an example of the relativity of good and bad values, morals, and hijab that applies among Muslims in different places and at other times. Space and time are very influential on the occurrence of relativity. Even Mutahhari is more assertive in saying that apart from all that, such as ideology, scientific concepts, culture, and religious events, all are relative, discursive, and never fixed because they contain instability in themselves, not only because of the changing space and time. Different but also because they are structured based on fluctuating realities and interests.
Mutahhari’s view of relativity reminds us of two things. First, the particularity of religion and religiosity, which has been a historical reality in various places, is a reality that puritans are concerned about and always try to undo. Andre Beatty, who did micro research, in one village in Banyuwangi, just an example, admitted how difficult it was to find totality, oneness, and oneness in Muslim life in that village. What exists is particularity, diversity, and diversity that run dynamically.
Second, authenticity, originality, and authenticity as claimed by some religious adherents. This relativity or dynamic change makes it difficult for us to imagine all that because the process of alternating keep takes place.